MIDDLE PERCY ISLAND

Ahoy there,Well it has been another amazing 24 hours onboard Young Endeavour. Last night the Youth Crew kept their first night watches and learned how to steer the ship and maintain a watch on deck. Each watch lasts for four hours, the first watch is 2000-2359, the guts is 0001-0400 and the morning watch is 0400-0800. So if you have ever struggled to get someone up early in the morning I bet you can imagine what it is like to get someone up for their first guts watch onboard.The watches did some excellent sailing overnight with a light 10-15kt Easterly wind. We ghosted along under all plain sail making a sedate 4kts. During the night we passed close by several of the islands which made for some exciting sailing and navigation. That is until the wind died and we were forced to start the engines for part of the night.We came to anchor at Middle Percy Island at 0700 to facilitate an action packed day of activities at anchor. After morning brief the Youth Crew conducted a snappy happy hour to bring the ship back up to Tim’s high standards of cleanness. Then the Youth Crew proceeded ashore to the Percy Island’s Yacht Club. The Yacht Club consists of two buildings one being a tin shed and the second an A-frame building, both of which have been filled with numerous yachts name boards from all over the world. There is a treasure trove of history in the name boards, and the associated stories that are attached to them. After having a good look around the Youth Crew proceeded to do what all young Australians do at the beach and various games of touch, cricket and soccer were soon in full swing. Other opted to go for a swim in the balmy 19degree crystal clear water.It was with a great reluctance that we brought the Youth Crew back onboard for lunch. Sadly the program had to go on and we could not spend the whole day kicking back on the beach. After lunch we had the first round of rope races, a non competitive event that we do onboard that tests a member of each watch up against a member of the other two watches. The first round was highly competitive for such a non competitive event. After rope races Kristy the Nav kicked into her navigation brief. With so many of the Youth Crew keen on navigation Kristy really brought her A game to the lecture and everyone was both highly entertained and informed.The rest of the afternoon was spent getting to know each other a bit more and enjoying chilling out on a tall ship at a tropical island. A few of the more energetic Youth Crew members went for a climb and others has a snooze on deck. Soon enough however it was dinner time and the three master chef apprentices (Emma, Richo and Toni) did an amazing job cooking the BBQ and everyone enjoyed the fine spread of food that they provided under the guidance of the Master Chad. Finally after dinner we did another get to know each other exercise that had the entire crew in stiches of laughter.We will remain at anchor tonight with the Youth Crew maintaining the safety of the ship for a shortened anchor watch. Tomorrow however I plan to get underway and start making way further to the South East towards Heron Island and its world famous research station.Until tomorrow, au revoir CAPT Matt Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away Hitch Land was created so that boats would have a place to visit Anonymous A quick shout out to Lucy’s Cousin, Lucy would like to point out to you that she has just spent the day at a remote tropical island, swimming, sun baking and having a great time… Lucy